AUSTRALIA: The Aged Are Doing It For Themselves

MELBOURNE, Victoria (The Age), July 14, 2006: AGE is certainly no barrier when it comes to being an entrepreneur; which is good news for mature-age workers looking for a sympathetic employer. Earlier this year we had the inspiring story of Helen Whitney, who started her Dutiful Daughters business aged in her 60s to lift the level of care for elderly and disabled people. While she has plenty of retired nurses on her books, she is now desperate for carers with language skills, as many of her foreign-born patients lose their command of English as they grow older. Whitney reports that her home-care business is still booming; three weeks ago it even had a record week. Before that we had Eddy DeGabrielle of Wollongong's Edmen Employment agency doing its bit to help care for the disadvantaged. Eddy made the point that the problem for many mature-age workers is "they are less flexible about adapting to work that is different from what they did before. But once you educate them, they are fine." Then there was the case study on 68-year-old Allan McRodd, whose problem was to attract an investor for his Uncle Harry's Natraburgers so he could think about retirement. Far from retiring, he now reports he is expanding the range to include party food and has just redesigned his packaging to make it more shelf-friendly for Woolworths. He's now planning to appoint a "board of directors" to offer advice and investment. But not all the stories of older entrepreneurs have a happy ending. Last year we featured Trevor Moir, who started The Executive Co-ordination Group to help retrenched executives and other mature business people re-enter the workforce. He tirelessly pressured politicians to examine the issue and it was Moir who first spotted the advertisement the Federal Government placed in Asian newspapers urging foreign workers under 45 to come to Australia for jobs. The recent column revealing that ad prompted many angry letters, including this one from Moir: "I gave up in Sydney last year. I am now teaching business English in Guangzhou University. Over here, they value maturity and knowledge, unlike Australia, where young and beautiful is the go. "I never thought that at 63 years of age I would be starting a new career in another country, but it's great." Ken Coulson (who notes his age is 63) writes from Brisbane of his experience in advertising for an office worker and specifically wanting someone over 50. "However, I was told I was not permitted to mention anything that might be held to be discriminatory," he wrote. "Fair enough. I placed an ad and stated that 'mature age is no barrier'. "I started a 'mature-aged lady' who is still with me 11 months later and is an asset to me and my business. What price PC?" The subject of today's Business Network study, Kathryn MacMillan, is just the latest example of someone who has created her own employment solution that helps others back into the workforce. Nine2Three Employment Solutions has found its niche. Copyright © 2006. The Age Company Ltd.